Little Rock woman arrested on suspicion of stabbing neighborLITTLE ROCK (AP) — Police say a 31-year-old woman stabbed her Little Rock neighbor after an argument. According to a Little Rock Police Department report, the woman was burning leaves at her home when her 52-year-old neighbor asked her not to move to where he was painting on his property. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (http://bit.ly/1KbpDDk ) reports a witness told police they saw the two neighbors exchange words before the woman said she was ...

Huckabee, the other man from Hope, opens 2016 bidHOPE (AP) — The other man from Hope is running for president again. Declaring Tuesday that he can bring "the kind of change that truly can get America from hope to higher ground," former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee announced his Republican candidacy in the hometown he shares with former President Bill Clinton. Though they share roots in Hope, Huckabee is pitching himself as the best Republican to take on Bill's wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, th...

State troopers rescue teenage victim in human trafficking operationArkansas State Troopers and civilian investigators of the State Police Crimes Against Children Division are being credited with locating and recovering a 15-year-old girl who had been sexually exploited while being held in a human trafficking operation. The arrest of Amber Johnson, 28, of North Little Rock last Wednesday night (April 29) at a south Little Rock motel has become part of a larger human trafficking investigation. The investigation...

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Arkansas State PoliceThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Flags to fly at half-staff for former US Rep. HammerschmidtLITTLE ROCK (AP) — Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson has ordered that U.S. and state flags be flown at half-staff for the memorial service for former U.S. Rep. John Paul Hammerschmidt. The proclamation announced Saturday and dated Friday orders the flags fly at half-staff from sunrise to sunset on Monday, which would have been Hammerschmidt's 93rd birthday. Hutchinson — a Republican like Hammerschmidt — called Hammerschmidt "an Arkansas icon, polit...

New Mexico National Guardsman dies at eventNORTH LITTLE ROCK (AP) — A member of the New Mexico National Guard has died while taking part in a marksmanship competition in Arkansas. Arkansas National Guard Lt. Col. Joel Lynch says 28-year-old Staff Sgt. Ryan Faraone collapsed Thursday afternoon after running approximately 200 yards at Camp Robinson in North Little Rock. Lynch said Faraone was taken to a Little Rock hospital where he later died. Camp Robinson hosted the competition and th...

Witness: Man on trial for murder unlikely to father childASHDOWN (AP) — A urologist says man charged with killing an Ashdown couple is unlikely to have fathered a child, as prosecutors have said. Forty-five-year-old Timothy Lamont Howard is on trial in Little River County for the 1997 deaths of Brian Day and Shannon Day and for attempted murder of the Day's 7-month-old son. Prosecutors have said Howard killed Shannon Day because she thought she was pregnant with Howard's child and that he killed Bri...

Some Little Rock police officers to try out body camerasLITTLE ROCK (AP) — Police in Little Rock are set to try wearing cameras for a 30-day test period. The department said Friday that seven Taser-brand cameras will be assigned next week to officers in the northwest, southwest and downtown divisions and to officers in the River Market District and at Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport. Police Chief Kenton Buckner said in light of civil unrest in places like Baltimore and Ferguson, Missouri,...

Officially sworn inSen. Greg Standridge (second from right), of Russellville, takes the oath of office last week in the Senate chamber of the state Capitol as the newest state senator representing District 16. Judge Kenneth Hixon of the Arkansas Court of Appeals administered the oath. With Standridge were his brother-in-law Jerry Evans (from left) and sister Jeania Evans, both of Russellville; his mother Jewel Simcox, of Russellville; his son Cameron; his daught...

US Sen. Tom Cotton of Dardanelle and wife have baby boyLITTLE ROCK (AP) — Just a few months after taking office, freshman U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton has another new job to adjust to: dad. The Republican from Dardanelle announced on Twitter on Tuesday that his wife, Anna, gave birth to a baby boy on Monday night. Cotton's office said the boy was born in Washington and weighs 8 pounds, 4 ounces. Cotton is an Army veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and served one term in Congress representing south...

Tyson Foods hopes to rid US chicken of antibiotics by 2017LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Tyson Foods intends to stop using human antibiotics in its domestic chicken flocks by September 2017, the company said Tuesday, and will explore doing the same for its beef, pork and turkey operations. The move comes as restaurants demand more natural, unaltered food and amid concerns that widespread antibiotic use can lead to drug-resistant germs. An animal welfare group said if antibiotics are to be taken away, other steps...

I-30 plan lists potential displacements of 19 propertiesLITTLE ROCK (AP) — Arkansas transportation officials have identified 19 residential and commercial properties that could be in the way of a $450 million proposed redesign of Interstate 30 near downtown Little Rock. The properties identified in the preliminary plan include five homes in North Little Rock, seven commercial buildings or warehouses and seven billboards. But officials have said it's still too early in the planning and design proces...

More local governments push for LGBT protectionsLITTLE ROCK (AP) — Officials in Arkansas' most populous county and one of its most popular tourist destinations said Tuesday they're considering prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, expanding the pushback against a new state law criticized as anti-gay. A member of the Hot Springs city board said she's proposing prohibiting the city and its vendors from discriminating against lesbian, gay, bisexual and tra...

Filing asks court to deny Jacksonville school party statusLITTLE ROCK (AP) — Lawyers for the Pulaski County Special School District have asked a federal judge to deny party status for the newly-formed Jacksonville School District in the decades-old desegregation case. U.S. District Court Judge D. Price Marshall Jr. earlier this month asked the parties in the case to respond to a request from the Jacksonville School District to be recognized as a full party in order to protect the district's interests...

Retrial begins for man accused of killing Ashdown coupleASHDOW (AP) — A retrial has begun for a man once sentenced to death after initially being convicted of killing an Ashdown couple and attempting to kill their 7-month-old son. Forty-five-year-old Timothy Lamont Howard is charged with two counts of capital murder in the 1997 deaths of Brian and Shannon Day. He's also accused of trying to strangle the couple's infant son, Trevor, and faces one count of attempted murder. A prosecutor told the jury...

Oklahoma authorities identify man killed by wildlife officerBUNCH, Okla. (AP) - The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation has released the name of an Arkansas man fatally shot by a wildlife officer. The OSBI on Monday identified 29-year-old Billy Patrick as the man who was killed Sunday. The agency says the unnamed officer asked to see the licenses of three people fishing in eastern Oklahoma and that one had an outstanding warrant for a parole violation in Arkansas. The officer attempted to take the m...

At Civil War's end, a steamboat disaster that history forgotMARION, Ark. (AP) - What remains of the greatest maritime disaster in U.S. history lies buried beneath an Arkansas beanfield where the Mississippi River once ran. A century-and-a-half later, residents of the nearest town and descendants of passengers aboard the steamboat Sultana are gathering to commemorate a disaster that was overshadowed by Abraham Lincoln's assassination. Along Highway 55 entering Marion, Arkansas, a small banner welcomes t...

Arkansas nonprofit for entrepreneurs receiving $1M grantNORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - An Arkansas nonprofit organization created to help promote and train entrepreneurs is receiving a $1 million federal grant. State, federal and local officials on Monday announced that the Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub will receive the grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration. Part of the grant will be used to complete the renovations the Hub is doing to an existing building in downtown North Lit...

Little Rock approves anti-discrimination protectionsLITTLE ROCK (AP) — Little Rock officials have voted to require companies contracting with the city to not discriminate based on sexual orientation or gender identity, challenging a new Arkansas law criticized as anti-gay. The city's board on Tuesday approved the ordinance, which prohibits the city and its vendors from discriminating against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Arkansas earlier this year became the second state to bar...

Little Rock schools chief quits after plagiarism accusationLITTLE ROCK (AP) — The head of Arkansas' largest school district resigned Tuesday amid plagiarism questions involving his 2009 doctoral dissertation. The Arkansas Department of Education announced that Little Rock Superintendent Dexter Suggs was resigning immediately under an agreement reached with Education Commissioner Johnny Key, who took over in March. The agreement includes a severance package that will pay Suggs $46,208.50 within 10 days...

Unemployment rate holds steady at 5.6 percentLITTLE ROCK (AP) — The Arkansas Department of Workforce Services reports that the March unemployment rate in Arkansas held steady at 5.6 percent. The department said Tuesday that the jobless rate is the same as the revised rate for February. The national unemployment rate for March was 5.5 percent. The report shows eight of Arkansas' major industry sectors added jobs with leisure and hospitality increasing by 2,300. The trade, transportation, ...